NATHANIEL WATTS, PETITIONER,
v.
THE HONORABLE MORISON BUCK, CIRCUIT JUDGE, THIRTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA, RESPONDENT
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Nathaniel Watts, an incarcerated felon, petitioned for certiorari to review a trial court's decision suspending his legal malpractice action against his criminal defense attorney until restoration of his civil rights and denying his motion for appointed counsel. The Florida appellate court affirmed that maintaining a civil action constitutes a civil right suspended under state law upon felony conviction and that no right to appointed counsel exists in such proceedings.
The court held that the right to maintain a civil action constitutes one of the civil rights suspended under section 944.292, Florida Statutes, upon felony conviction, and that there is no error in denying a motion for appointment of counsel in a civil proceeding.
[1] A convicted felon's right to maintain a legal malpractice action is a civil right suspended under section 944.292, Florida Statutes (1983).
[2] The current version of section 944.292, Florida Statutes, unlike its 1975 predecessor, does not limit the suspension of civil rights upon felony conviction to the rights…
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“we find no clear departure from the essential requirements of law in the trial court's ruling that petitioner's right to maintain this particular action constitutes one of the civil rights suspended under section 944.292, Florida Statutes (1983).”
Establishes the court's holding that maintaining a civil action is among suspended civil rights for felons.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceNathaniel Watts is a convicted felon incarcerated at Dade Correctional Institute. He sought to bring a legal malpractice action against his criminal d…
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PER CURIAM.
By petition for writ of certiorari, Nathaniel Watts, a convicted felon presently incarcerated at Dade Correctional Institute, seeks review of the trial court’s orders 1) suspending prosecution of Watts’ legal malpractice action against his criminal defense attorney until restoration of Watts’ civil rights and 2) denying Watts’ subsequent motion for appointment of counsel in that civil proceeding. We deny the petition.
As to the first point, we find no clear departure from the essential requirements of law in the trial court’s ruling that petitioner’s right to maintain this particular action constitutes one of the civil rights suspended under section 944.292, Florida Statutes (1983).1 See Annot., 74 A.L.R.3d 680, 697 (1976). We find petitioner’s reliance on In re Advisory Opinion of the Governor Civil Rights, 306 So. 2d 520 (Fla. 1975), misplaced to the extent that the cited opinion addresses a statutory predecessor to the current provision which specifically provided that the “only civil rights which shall be suspended by conviction are the right to vote, hold public office, and serve on a jury.” See § 944.292, Fla.Stat. (1975).2 Significantly, the current statute contains no such limitation.
As to the second point, we find no error in the trial court’s order denying petitioner’s motion for appointment of counsel. See In the Interest of D.B., 385 So. 2d 83, 89 (Fla.1980); McKay v. Jenkins, 405 So. 2d 287, 288 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981).
Accordingly, the petition for writ of certiorari is DENIED.
HOBSON, A.C.J., and BOARDMAN and DANAHY, JJ., concur. . Section 944.292, Florida Statutes (1983), provides:
Suspension of civil rights. — Upon conviction of a felony as defined in s. 10, Art. X of the State Constitution, the civil rights of the person convicted shall be suspended in Florida until such rights are restored by a full pardon, conditional pardon, or restoration of civil rights granted pursuant to s. 8, Art. IV of the State Constitution.
. Section 944.292, Florida Statutes (1975), provides:
Suspension of civil rights. — Effective July 1, 1974, upon conviction for a felony, the civil rights of the person convicted shall be suspended until he is discharged from parole or released from the custody of the department without parole, at which time such civil rights are automatically reinstated. The only civil rights which shall be suspended by conviction are the right to vote, hold public office, and serve on a jury.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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McCUISTON v. Wanicka, 483 So. 2d 489 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986)…tion because McCuiston, in the interim, had been convicted of a felony and sentenced to state prison. Thus, Wanicka maintained, McCui-ston had been divested of his civil rights by virtue of section 944.292, Florida Statutes (1983). In Watts v. Buck, 454 So. 2d 1079 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984), we interpreted this statute as including the right to maintain a civil action. Statutes such as section 944.292 are commonly known as “civil death” statutes, from the common law notion that a convicted felon is civiliter mortuus…
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Lloyd v. Farkash, 476 So. 2d 305 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985)…that it does. Lloyd, a convicted felon and an inmate at Union Correctional Institution, brought a civil action alleging malpractice against Farkash, his former defense counsel. The trial court dismissed the complaint on authority of Watts v. Buck, 454 So. 2d 1079 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984). The facts in Watts are virtually identical to those in the instant case and the district court found there that the plaintiff’s right to maintain the action was barred by Fla.Stat. § 944.292 (1983): Upon conviction of a felony a…
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Dinkens v. The Cir. Court OF the Tenth Jud. Cir., 489 So. 2d 46 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986)…ellant, a convicted felon, filed a petition for name change in the Tenth Judicial Circuit. The trial court entered an order abating the petition until appellant’s civil rights were restored. The court entered its order on the basis of Watts v. Buck, 454 So. 2d 1079 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984), in which we held that section 944.292, Florida Statutes (1983), prevents a convicted felon from maintaining a civil action in Florida’s courts until his civil rights have been restored. We acknowledge that the trial court merely…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- In the Interest of D. B. and D. S., 385 So. 2d 83 (Fla. 1980)
- In re Advisory Opinion of the Governor Civil Rights, 306 So. 2d 520 (Fla. 1975)
- Pegues v. State, 405 So. 2d 287 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)
- McKAY v. Jenkins, 405 So. 2d 287 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)